June 20, 2018 — Hoopers Island sits in a remote section of the Chesapeake Bay, but at this time of year, this end of the road community is bustling — crabs are running out and a steady parade of watermen are arriving at Harry Phillip’s dock to unload bushel after bushel of blue crab.
But as of Tuesday afternoon, the watermen and the man who buys their crabs say their livelihood is being threatened by a new government policy on migrant worker visas.
“There’s something wrong with the system,” said Phillips, who owns Russel Hall Seafood.
With record low unemployment in the U.S. and demand for migrant workers way up, the government instituted a lottery system for worker visas.
After going through two rounds of lotteries, Phillips hasn’t been granted a single worker visa.
A few of the crab houses did get their workers and will be in business, but most did not and are facing a lost summer.